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Biomedical subjects

H Oppermann

Publications and source records attributed to H Oppermann.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

A cellular protein that associates with the transforming protein of Rous sarcoma virus is also a heat-shock protein.

A single viral protein (pp60src) mediates neoplastic transformation of cells infected with Rous sarcoma virus. Immunoprecipitation of pp60src has revealed two cellular proteins (Mr 50,000 and 89,000) that appear to associate with pp60src in a specific manner. Neither of the cellular proteins has been well characterized, but it is thought that both may participate in the function of pp60src. Treatment of avian cells with unphysiological temperature or certain chemical agents amplifies the production of several proteins in the manner of the "heat shock" response earlier described for Drosophila. We report here that one of these proteins, with a molecular weight of 89,000 is identical to the 89-kilodalton protein found associated with pp60src. The 89-kilodalton protein is a major constituent of both uninfected and infected cells, even in the absence of inducing agents, but only a small fraction of this protein appears to associate with pp60src in cells transformed by Rous sarcoma virus. The complex containing pp60src and the 89-kilodalton protein can be precipitated by an immune reaction involving pp60src alone. The complexed form of the 89-kilodalton protein did not react directly with antibodies but regained its reactivity subsequent to release from the complex. We conclude that the 89-kilodalton protein is bound to pp60src in a relatively stable complex. We suggest that the 89-kilodalton protein may have overlapping roles in viral oncogenesis and the heat shock response, and that evidence on the function of the protein in either setting may illuminate its function in the other. In addition, it may prove profitable to search for other overlaps between the cellular response to heat shock and the neoplastic transformation of cells by pp60src.

Animals

The purified product of the transforming gene of avian sarcoma virus phosphorylates tyrosine.

The product of the avian sarcoma virus transforming gene (src) is a phosphoprotein of 60,000 daltons (pp60src) which is responsible for the oncogenic potential of the virus. Recent findings indicate that this protein possesses an affiliated protein kinase activity. We have determined by hydrodynamic measurements and gel filtration that this kinase activity tracks with a highly asymmetric molecule of 60,000 daltons, strengthening the idea that pp60src alone (as opposed to a complex) possesses the enzymatic activity. To more fully characterize the properties of this kinase activity, we undertook its purification by two independent methods. In each case, a protein related to pp60src was extensively purified from contaminating cellular proteins. The yields from one of the procedures were sufficient to induce high titer monospecific antibodies against pp60src in mice. We have shown that purified pp60src is able to phosphorylate several protein substrates other than IgG. The conclusion that pp60src possesses the responsible enzymatic activity was strengthened by demonstrating that a temperature-sensitive conditional mutation in src affected the thermal stability of the purified protein. It has recently been shown that the protein kinase activity affiliated with pp60src phosphorylates tyrosine residues on IgG. We have examined the target specificity of the purified protein on several substrates other than IgG, and show that in every case, the phosphorylation occurs exclusively at a tyrosine residue; it therefore appears that tyrosine phosphorylatin is not an artifact of phosphorylation in th immunoprecipitate, but instead represents the general substrate specificity of pp60src.

Alpharetrovirus

Induction of four proteins in chick embryo cells by sodium arsenite.

Four proteins of Mr = 89,000, 73,000, 35,000, and 27,000 are strongly induced in chick fibroblasts by sodium arsenite. Induction of these proteins is discoordinate as a function of arsenite concentration. Kinetically, all species appear 1 h after exposure to 50 microM arsenite, after 24 and 48 h of exposure, the 27,000 protein is still synthesized extensively, whereas normal cell proteins and the three other induced proteins are greatly reduced. The four proteins are unrelated by tryptic peptide-mapping procedures. Multiple subspecies of p89, p73, and p27 were observed in two-dimensional gels. The subspecies of p73 appear to be related as determined by partial proteolytic maps as are those of p27. Two-dimensional gel analysis of in vitro translation products from rabbit reticulocyte lysates primed with mRNA from uninduced and induced cells reveals that the amount of translatable mRNA specific for these proteins is increase by induction. This increase is attributable to new mRNA synthesis since actinomycin D prevent induction and new bands of RNA (Mr = 0.9 X 10(6) and 1.3 X 10(6)) appear in methyl mercury gels of oligo(dT) selected RNA from induced cells. These bands are assigned to p73 and p89 based on translation of electroeluted RNA from a similar preparative gel. A comparison is made between induction of these proteins and the heat shock response in Drosophilla melanogaster.

Animals

Amplification of translational control by membrane-mediated events: a pleiotropic effect on cellular and viral gene expression.

This review deals with the events which are triggered in tissue culture cells upon exposure to medium hyperosmolarity, to virus infection and to inducers of terminal differentiation. Increased medium osmolarity mimics, in several ways, events which follow infection of cells by cytopathogenic viruses. These are: inhibition of uptake of amino acids, glucose and uridine, the release or activation of a low molecular weight substance which mediates an immediate and specific inhibition of polypeptide chain initiation, and alteration in the phosphorylation state of ribosomal proteins. All these effects appear to be related to or be a consequence of membrane alterations. Similar alterations in transport and protein synthesis are initiated in Friend erythroleukemic cells upon induction of terminal differentiation.

Amino Acids

Spontaneous conversion of nontransformed avian sarcoma virus-infected rat cells to the transformed phenotype.

Normal rat kidney (NRK) fibroblasts were infected with the Schmidt-Ruppin strain (SR-D) of avian sarcoma virus (ASV) and cloned 20 h after infection without selection for the transformed phenotype. Most infected clones initially exhibited the flat, nontransformed morphology that is characteristic of uninfected NRK cells. In long-term culture, however, the majority of the SR-D NRK clones began segregating typical ASV-transformed cells. Transforming ASV could be rescued by fusion with chicken embryo fibroblasts from most of the infected clones tested. Three predominantly flat, independently infected clones were further analyzed by subcloning 8 to 10 weeks after infection. Most flat progeny subclones derived at random from two of these "parental" SR-D NRK clonal lines did not yield virus upon fusion with chicken embryo fibroblasts, although a nondefective transforming ASV was repeatedly recovered from the parental clones. This observation suggested that most, but not all, daughter cells in these SR-D NRK clones lost the ASV provirus after cloning. The progeny of the third independent parental cell clone, c17, gave rise to both flat and transformed subclones that carried ASV. In this case, ASV recovery by fusion and transfection from the progeny subclones was equally efficient regardless of the transformation phenotype of the cells. The 60,000-dalton phosphoprotein product of the ASV src gene was, however, expressed at high level only in the transformed variants. The results of a Luria-Delbruck fluctuation analysis and of Newcombe's respreading test indicated that the event leading to the spontaneous conversion to the transformed state occurred at random in dividing cultures of these flat ASV NRK cells at a rate predicted for somatic mutation.

Animals

Uninfected vertebrate cells contain a protein that is closely related to the product of the avian sarcoma virus transforming gene (src).

Neoplastic transformation of cell by avian sarcoma virus is mediated by a single viral gene (src), which encodes a phosphoprotein (pp60src) with the enzymatic activity of a protein kinase. The DNAs of vertebrate species contain a highly conserved homologue of src that is also represented in the polysomal RNA of uninfected cells and, hence, may specify a normal cellular protein. We have used antisera directed against pp60src to isolate a closely related phosphoprotein (denoted vertebrate pp60) from uninfected chicken, quail, rat, and human cells. Our data indicate that vertebrate pp60 is a homologue of pp60src, highly conserved both antigenically and chemically. Moreover, the cellular protein may possess protein kinase activity similar to that associated with pp60src. We conclude that the product of src is a slightly modified analogue of a normal cellular protein.

Alpharetrovirus

Effect of antabuse (disulfiram) on Rous sarcoma virus and on eukaryotic cells.

Antabuse (disulfiram) is widely used in the treatment of chronic alcoholism. We have examined the effect of this drug on malignant transformation by Rous sarcoma virus, on eukaryotic cell synthesis, and on nucleic acid binding. It was found that: (1) Disulfiram inhibits the activity of the RNA dependent DNA polymerase of Rous sarcoma virus and inactivates the ability of the virus to malignantly transform chick embryo cells. The monomer of disulfiram, diethyldithiocarbamate does not affect the virus. (2) Disulfiram induced the synthesis of four proteins in normal chick embryo and human foreskin cells. The monomer diethyldithiocarbamate, induced these proteins also. Cellular DNA synthesis is more sensitive to disulfiram than are RNA and protein synthesis. (3) Disulfiram binds to neither DNA or RNA in the presence or absence of copper. However, diethyldithiocarbamate in the presence of, but not in the absence of, copper binds to HeLa cell DNA and to Rous sarcoma virus 70 S genome RNA. These results indicate that this compound, which causes no symptoms in people who do not consume alcohol, may have significant effects on a cellular level.

Animals

Induction of four proteins in eukaryotic cells by kethoxal bis(thiosemicarbazone).

Kethoxal bis(thiosemicarbazone) induces the synthesis of four proteins (100 000, 70 000, 35 000 and 25 000 daltons) in normal chick embryo cells. The 70 000 dalton species is produced at the fastest rate 2 hr after exposure to the compound. Pulse-chase experiments revealed neither precursors nor products of these proteins and both actinomycin and cycloheximide inhibited their synthesis. Neither of the two substituents of the inducer, kethoxal or thiosemicarbazide, were active. The four proteins were induced in several other species, but human cells produced only three proteins (100 000, 70 000 and a different 30 000 dalton form).

Animals

Evidence that the transforming gene of avian sarcoma virus encodes a protein kinase associated with a phosphoprotein.

Avian sarcoma virus (ASV) induces sarcomas in animals and transforms fibroblasts to a neoplastic state in cell culture. A single viral gene (src) is responsible for both the induction and maintenance of neoplastic transformation. Recent work has identified a protein with a molecular weight of 60,000 daltons that is apparently encoded in src and may be the effector molecule for the gene (Brugge and Erikson, 1977; Purchio et al, 1978). The putative product of src can be immunoprecipitated by antisera obtained from rabbits bearing tumors induced by ASV. We have used this approach to isolate the protein to characterize further its genetic origins and possible function. Our rabbit tumor antisera precipitated a protein with a molecular weight of 60,000 daltons; according to serological, biochemical and genetic criteria, this protein is encoded in src. We found that this protein is phosphorylated and therefore denoted it pp60. Phosphorylation of pp60 could be accomplished in vitro with extracts of ASV-infected cells. A temperature-sensitive conditional mutation in src had no demonstrable effect on either the production or stability of pp60 in the infected cell, but phosphorylation of the protein was temperature-sensitive. Since the mutant src is not expressed at the restrictive temperature, our findings raise the possibility that phosphorylation of pp60 is required for its function as the putative effector of src. Immunoprecipitates prepared with extracts of ASV-infected cells and the rabbit tumor antisera contained a protein kinase activity that catalyzed phosphorylation of the heavy chains of immunoglobulin molecules, using either ATP or GTP as phosphate donor. The kinase activity immunoprecipitated in parallel with pp60 was obtained only from cells that contained a functioning product of src and could not be precipitated with antisera directed against structural proteins of ASV. A temperature-sensitive conditional mutation in src caused the kinase activity to be thermally inactivated in vitro far more rapidly than the activity from cells infected with wild-type virus. We conclude that both the protein kinase and pp60 are encoded in src, and that the enzymatic activity may be an intrinsic property of pp60. Phosphorylation of pp60 in cellular extracts was inhibited by calcium ion, whereas the immunoprecipitable kinase activity was not, suggesting that the kinase responsible for pp60 phosphorylation may be distinct from that encoded in src. Collett and Erikson (1978) have also identified a protein kinase activity associated with pp60. These findings raise the possibility that phosphorylation of specific cellular targets might account for transformation of the host cell by src.

Adenosine Triphosphate

A joint produce of the genes gag and pol of avian sarcoma virus: a possible precursor of reverse transcriptase.

A virus-specific protein of approximately 180,000 daltons has been identified in cells transformed by avian sarcoma virus. The protein, designated P180, includes immunological determinants of both viral core proteins and reverse transcriptase. Its tryptic peptides represent essentially the sum of those of the precursor of the core proteins (Pr76gag) and reverse transcriptase. Thus P180 must arise from the uninterrupted translation of gag and pol. The kinetics of its formation and decay suggest that P180 is the precursor of reverse transcriptase.

Alpharetrovirus

Inhibition of vesicular stomatitis virus by kethoxal bis (thiosemicarbazone).

Kethoxal bis (thiosemicarbazone) (KTS) inhibited replication of, and plaque formation by, vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) in chick embryo cells. No other thiosemicarbazones tested were effective. Virus-specific m-RNA and protein synthesis were inhibited by KTS. However, virion RNA-dependent RNA synthesis was not inhibited by the drug. Treatment of VSV virions directly with KTS produced enhancement, rather than inactivation, of plaque formation. KTS inhibited cellular DNA and RNA synthesis by 67 and 25% respectively. Since cellular DNA and RNA synthesis are not required for VSV replication, the inhibition of these processes is probably unrelated to the antivirial activity of KTS. Cellular protein synthesis was inhibited 24% by KTS. Unexpectedly, synthesis of four proteins was induced in KTS-treated uninfected cells.

Animals

Control of peptide chain initiation in uninfected and virus infected cells by membrane mediated events.

Initiation of protein synthesis in tissue culture cells is rapidly inhibited or blocked by addition of either DMSO, ethanol, TPCK, cytochalasin B, or sucrose to the growth medium. In contrast, these agents do not interfere with the initiation of protein synthesis in cell-free extracts to a comparable extent. These results support the hypothesis that protein synthesis in tissue culture cells can be influenced by membrane mediated events. Translation of viral mRNA in RNA virus infected cells is resistant to a number of these inhibitors of peptide chain initiation and proceeds under conditions where translation of host mRNA is almost completely suppressed. It appears that viral mRNA possesses a greater ability than host mRNA to form mRNA-ribosome initiation complexes when the overall rate of peptide chain initiation is reduced. This observation has led to a number of predictions concerning the strategy of virus directed suppression of host mRNA translation. Under optimal growth conditions protein synthesis appears to be regulated mainly, but not exclusively, by the amount of the mRNA available for translation. However, when cellular growth and/or the overall rate of peptide chain initiation is restricted, control of protein synthesis at the translational level becomes decisive with the translation of each mRNA species proceeding with its own characteristic efficiency most probably as a result of inherent differential affinities of individual mRNA species for ribosomes.

Cell Line

Individual translational efficiencies of SV40 and cellular mRNAs.

The technique of selective inhibition of peptide chain initiation by growth medium hypertonicity was adapted for cell monolayer cultures and applied to a study of protein synthesis in SV40 infected BSC-1 cells. The translational efficiences for individual peptide chain initiation sites on SV40 mRNAs were determined and compared to those for cellular mRNA species under conditions of a reduced rate of peptide chain initiation. The SV40 mRNAs show different translational efficiences. The results indicate that the synthesis of the SV40 proteins VP1, 2 and 3 are initiated independently and with different rates on viral mRNA(s). It is proposed, therefore, that VP2 is not a precursor for VP3.

Cell Line

On the regulation of protein synthesis in vaccinia virus infected cells.

All eukaryotic mRNA species show a characteristic individual translational efficiency under conditions of restricted polypeptide chain initiation caused by an increase in the osmolarity of the growth medium. In vaccinia virus infected L cells or HeLa cells virus mRNAs can be grouped into classes on the basis of their relative labelling under standard and hypertonic conditions. Under the latter conditions, most of the "early" mRNAs possess very high translational efficiencies, most of the "intermediate" mRNAs show an intermediate efficiency and the most prominent "late" mRNAs show a translational efficiency which is lower than that of other virus mRNAs but still higher than the average cellular mRNA. Late in the infection cycle virus mRNAs with a relative low translational efficiency are preferentially translated under standard growth conditions whereas "early" virus mRNAs which are still present and which show a higher translational resistance to hypertonic conditions are not translated. These results indicate a unique translational control operating late in the growth cycle of vaccinia virus.

HeLa Cells